Has there not been a time, when man was not a thing even mentioned? (Man was not yet manifest; he was the unmanifest within the dimension of the Names)!
Sayyed Abbas Sadr-Ameli
Has there not been over Man a long period of Time when he was a thing not worth mentioning
Al-muntakhab fi tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim
Was there not an era when man was not even heard of